Recurrence of the original disease. Does this influence renal graft failure?

Recurrence of the original disease in the renal graft occurs frequently, but it seldom leads to graft failure. In patients with glomerulonephritis as the original disease, graft survival is lower than in patients with non-recurring diseases. Since the use of cyclosporine the actuarial graft survival of both groups became identical. Analysis of the data indicates a nonspecific action of cyclosporine, possibly on the glomerular hemodynamics. The risk of recurrence is higher with living donors. The multiplicity of the factors involved make it difficult to determine the risk of recurrence in an individual patient on the basis of the general data from the literature.